Artimus Devaneaux
General Artimus Lucanus Devaneaux, Battlelord of the Reydovan Separatist Confederacy (born June 21, 2328, in Montagne Noire, Reydovan Prime) is a fictional character created by Joshua Underwood in the Star Trek universe. Artimus is Underwood's primary villain, and has been portrayed by Christopher Lambert since the character's inception in 2003. Underwood credits Rich Terry, the founder and host of the Star Trek: Generations Ahead room on Warp1.net, for giving him some of the ideas that made Artimus a truly evil and powerful character. Though they have had a "falling out" due to Underwood being banned from that room due to conflicts with the moderation staff, and a misunderstood comment made by Underwood in the Center of the Universe room on the same server, the two "roleplaying masterminds" have had discussions of creating more levels of mayhem with their storylines. "Mayhem, chaos, war, that's what we did," Underwood says. "Rich and I usually didn't come up with anything without blowing something up or killing some character in some novel way. Then again, Rich's room was a little less restricted; CotU is a great room with great people, but we usually have underage kids play in there from time to time, so the hosts try to keep it clean." Origins Artimus was born on Reydovan Prime, the homeworld of the Reydovan Empire, to a poor family. He stood out among his family, however, as he was born with a shock of white hair, and was also proven to be a near-supergenius. He also possessed psionic powers, uncontrolled because of his inexperience with them. An Imperial official passing by noticed the boy's violent psionic spasms, and alerted the Emperor, Kiran Joshmaul I. Joshmaul took it upon himself to train the boy, then 12 years old, in the art of psionic mastery - defense as well as combat. Artimus trained under the Reydovan Emperor for six years, and when he returned to his family he seemed more in control of himself and his powers. Under his confident, cool demeanor, however, was a cruel and unfeeling heart. The day after he came home, his parents were found dead in their bedroom. They had been incinerated from inside out. Many suspected Artimus, but the 19-year-old managed to avoid prosecution due to the Emperor's insistence that Artimus was incapable of committing the vile act. But Artimus had, in fact, committed it, and had hidden it for nearly thirty years... Military Service Artimus possessed intellectual capacity and leadership abilities that made General Daniel Longstreet, commander of the Imperial Marine Corps, think of possibly training him to be an officer. In 2347 - the year that he killed his parents - Artimus accepted Longstreet's offer. While he trained to be an officer, Artimus also continued his training with Joshmaul. He married Anastasia Britanov, daughter of the legendary General Mikhail Britanov, before he moved to Earth to serve as military attache to the Imperial Embassy. He and his wife were visiting friends in northern Ireland in 2355 when Kieran, their son, was born. Artimus was recalled to Reydovan Prime in 2356, allowing Anastasia to raise Kieran on her own. She knew that Artimus was evil, and thought that marrying him would temper his homicidal mania; she was sadly mistaken. She ensured that Kieran would not be evil and corrupt, molding him into a fierce but gentle young man. Meanwhile, Artimus rose through the ranks, and became a General in 2371 not by his military skill, but by intimidation and psionic manipulation of his superiors. And while he rose through the ranks, he continued killing - at first, without the notice of his family. Tendency for Homicide Throughout his 29-year career in the RIMC, Artimus is believed to have cold-bloodiedly killed at least 50 people, both on Earth and on Reydovan Prime. Many were just random people on the street. But some of his killings were targeted at someone - and more heinous than the others... The Taylor Family Artimus is said to have had a trivial disagreement with the fairly influential Imperial Navy officer Ian Taylor. But to Artimus, nothing was trivial; in fact, to him it was cause for Taylor's "execution". Late on a cold night in 2364, Artimus snuck into the Taylor house and brutally killed the captain, his wife Clarice, his 13-year-old son Rosh, and his infant daughter Larissa. But the middle child, he spared; a six-year-old girl with a shock of white hair. She later became Celest Devaneaux, the wife of Artimus' son. This would also prove to be a fatal mistake, as Celest stood up at Artimus' trial and testified to the events of that night. The Minister of State In 2376, during the negotiations with the defeated Dominion, Artimus quarrelled with Lucius Tyrael, the Imperial Minister of State, over reparations to be paid to the Empire for the Battle of Korolev Prime three years earlier. When the meeting had adjourned, Artimus and Lucius argued in private about it, and when the delegates returned to meet, they saw Artimus' knife go into the Minister's heart. Artimus was arrested on the spot and subjected to a public trial. After a year of deliberation, testimony (including that of Kieran and Celest), and attempts to lessen the sentence, Artimus was convicted and sentenced to death on January 16, 2378. He was held on Death Row at Crow's Point, the most secure maximum-security prison in the Empire, on Reydovan Prime itself. The appeals continued, which extended his stay in prison. This is seen today as the greatest mistake ever made in the Empire... The Guard in His Escape On June 15, 2379, as Artimus waited in prison, the door to his cell was opened by one of the guards, who Artimus recognized as a member of his command during the Dominion War. The guard identified himself and said that he was releasing his old commander. Artimus was surprised and highly appreciative of the matter, and thanked the guard for his kindness by quickly but painfully killing him - grasping his head and savagely twisting. Artimus killed fifteen more guards in his escape when he came face to face with his wife and son, waiting right at the gates. Kieran, now 21, held his officer's blade at his father's neck, informing him that the time to carry out his sentence was long overdue. Artimus sneered at his son, but his attention became focused on his wife. Lashing out with a bolt of psionic energy, Artimus killed Anatasia in a quick and brutal manner. Enraged and grief-stricken, Kieran charged. Artimus seemed unable to counter his son's moves until he quickly pulled a knife from his cloak and slashed up Kieran's face, cutting off the ocular connectors to his right eye. Kieran returned the gesture with a swift slice of his own blade. Artimus lashed out again, throwing Kieran to the ground and making good his escape. Artimus knew his time was short; within moments, every Imperial Guard on the planet would be on his trail. Beaming up to the Imperial shipyards in orbit, Artimus took control of the HRMS Kyrador, the first Reydovan battlecruiser to be fitted with a cloaking device. Killing the captain and mind-controlling the crew, Artimus renamed the vessel the Hand of Artimus and set out to join the Reydovan Separatist Confederacy - a small but brutal terrorist organization that, until then, had been considered a mere nuisance. Within weeks, Artimus had forged it into a true fighting force. In 2381, he managed to hijack an Imperial Constructor-class mobile vessel replicator, and radically reconstructed it and designed new warships to serve his needs. The most powerful was his Flagship, the new Hand of Artimus (the battlecruiser he had commanded was named Demon's Will). In an even more vile experiment, he cloned his own son, using the DNA taken from the blade Artimus had used to blind Kieran's right eye, and combining it with some of his own. He called his creation "Demon-Kieran", and made him his chief lieutenant and master of terror. The War with the Romulans In 2384, Artimus offered his services to the Romulan Star Empire in their war against the Federation and her allies. The Romulans accepted, until the Hydran Kingdom demanded that they disassociate himself with him - they recognized the evil he had become. Enraged, Artimus openly attacked Romulan forces when they assaulted Aquarius Station, the Federation-Klingon starbase along the Neutral Zone, and thus cost the Romulans that victory. He then continued attacking Reydovan fleets, overwhelming the scout fleet of Grand Admiral Alexander Nemerov, and even the great Imperial Guard High Fleet, the personal fleet of Kiran Joshmaul himself. Fleet Admiral Francis Ramsey, the commander of the IGHF, had split the IGHF into three subfleets; Artimus completely destroyed two, forcing Ramsey to withdraw. Artimus continues his hit-and-run attacks, and is believed to be planning some form of revenge against the Romulans in the future. Category: RPG Category: Reydovan Empire